This column has reported the ongoing healthcare reform and the universal health insurance program in China, for which the central government committed $125 billion. With the programs being implemented this year and with $5.9 billion as part of the economic stimulus program, the medical market should see good growth in 2009.
The healthcare reform implementation program stipulates that by 2011, through central governmental and regional government investments, at least one county-level hospital in each county should reach the standardized Class II hospital level. Each administrative region (there are 31 regions in the country) and its provincial level cities must have established a network to provide healthcare service to its residents. MOH drafted a guidance document for county level hospitals and clinics, identifying medical equipment needed for these health centers. County-level hospitals must have a CT scanner, X-ray machine, color ultrasound, endoscope, respirator, electrocardiogram, blood gas analyzer, childbirth monitor, infant jaundice treatment machine, surgical eye microscope, ear/nose/throat treatment machine, dental station, blood cell counter, urine analyzer and an emergency vehicle. MOH will organize public tenders—a public bidding process—for some of the high-end equipment in the above list, or to provide technical guidance to provincial governments, which will administer their own bid programs.
MOH has completed the first high-end medical consumable (such as cardiac and neuro-implantable products) and large equipment (such as PET-CT and accelerator) tenders for 2009. The next step is to organize tenders for other consumables, such as bone implants. For equipment and consumables requested by the basic healthcare system, there will be tenders by the central government or regional governments.
For high-end equipment, such as CT, cardiac imaging systems, endoscopes and some large laboratory instrument, MOH will continue to use its central bidding program.
To aid regional governments in selecting the right products for their hospitals, the China Association of Medical Equipment, which is associated with the Ministry of Health, has provided product and technology evaluations since 2006. In the past three years, this association evaluated 1,743 products in 22 categories. The association recommended 69 percent of the products evaluated.